Voting hours extended

PARLIAMENT yesterday approved the extension of voting hours for the May 22 elections by 90 minutes. With the amendment, voting hours are extended to 6.30 pm.

The proposal to extend voting hours was put before plenum as a matter of urgency and was approved unanimously.

House President Marios Garoyian yesterday urged voters to go to the polls, following recent surveys suggesting that the coming elections will be marked by high abstention rates.

”The parliamentary elections of May 22 take place at a time when Cyprus faces serious problems,” Garoyian said, addressing the last plenary session. ”Abstaining from the elections means refraining from assuming responsibility. It means abolishing the most important right the citizens have,” he added.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.